Forgiving Gunner
by Sci-fi Girl 102
Summary: This is a follow up to "Screwing up all over again". This one shot explains why Cleo keeps forgiving Gunner overtime he screws up. How much longer can she can it?


**Hi guys. I'm back with another story but this is just a one shot to capture Cleo's thoughts. My next story will be a multi chapter story. If you want more please favourite, follow and leave a review. Also I googled Louisiana state driving laws, so if that's wrong, sorry.**

The alarm clock went off at 8:30am, signalling it was time for Cleo to get up. With a grunt, Cleo opened her eyes. She would give anything to roll over and go back to sleep but she knew if she did she'd regret it.

As she moved to a sitting position her left leg and right arm were in more pain than she thought they would be.

She had won first place in the karate competition yesterday but it didn't come without a fight.

The other girl may have been taller than Cleo, but she was stronger and came out victorious.

Cleo got up, grabbed her favourite hoodie, pulled it over her pyjama top and went downstairs. Slower than she usually would, as the tenderness in her limbs was showing no signs of easing off.

It was finally Saturday, which meant no homework and no chores to do, although she did have to work for 6 hours at the shop she worked in. Every Saturday Cleo worked 10-4 in a local Candy store just outside the main city of New Orleans. Her dad had said that she didn't need a job, as he would get her everything that she needed. Cleo enjoyed her work though and liked the idea of earning her own money, especially when it came to her dads' birthday or Christmas. It didn't feel right getting money from him to buy him a gift. The owner of the shop also understood how many extra activities Cleo did and was flexible with her working. During school terms she would only work a Saturday 10-4 unless she had a competition or soccer game on. If the school was on vacation, Cleo could work extra hours if she wanted.

The week had passed so slowly with homework and chores pilling up, practising for the competition yesterday, soccer practice and choreographing a dance routine for the school assembly next week. Cleo was exhausted and wasn't sure if she could make it through the next 6 hours. Hopefully it would be busy in the shop and time would fly.

As she walked down stairs, Cleo wondered about her dad. Gunner Jensen, the unstable expendable. Was he still out on the job or was he in his bed?

She loved him more than anything in the world and wanted him to be proud of her and although he hadn't seen her compete yesterday, she hoped the trophy would make him proud. Every since she could remember, Cleo was always a daddy's girl. Due to her parents work, she only saw him when he could visit but when he was with her, she never wanted to be apart from him. Her mom, Rebecca told her that one time, when the three of them went out to dinner when Cleo was 2, her dad pushed her stroller as Cleo cried when her mom did it. After they had walked for a bit, her parents silently swapped who was pushing the stroller and without even turning round, Cleo had cried as it wasn't her dad that was pushing her. Her mom and aunty always said that when he left to go back home, she would scream for hours, as all she wanted was her daddy.

He worked as a mercenary and would often be away for weeks at a time with no contact sometimes. He had been away on a job and they hadn't spoke since he left on Monday morning, although this time he said it would only be till the end of the week. They had agreed that they would only call each other when he was away if it was an emergency. Cleo wanted him to call her each day to say he was ok but her dad had told her that he couldn't always do that and that no news was good news.

She thought it was interesting what he did. Besides her best friends, Emily Road and Samantha Caesar, no one else could say their dad was a mercenary.

Cleo loved hearing some of the stories he told when he came back. Some she hated because she didn't want to picture her dad getting hurt and all the evil things the bad guys had done.

She worried about him all the time when he was away. He was all she had left and couldn't loose her dad as well as her mom. If she lost him she'd have to go back and live with her aunt Mandy.

Just the thought made her shiver with panic.

She did love her aunty but when she lived with her aunty for just over a month when her mom died, life was unbearable.

Rebecca and Gunner trusted Cleo as long as she told them where she was, what she was doing and what time she would home. Cleo never took that trust for granted and always let them know what was going on. However her aunt Mandy was the worst. She wanted to know the address of the place she was at, the number of someone she was with and wanted to know exactly when she was leaving somewhere and how long it would take to get home. Once, Cleo was 5 minutes later home than she said she was going to be and when she came home, Mandy was just about to get in her car and go looking for her. It was like being a prisoner sometimes.

Everyday during that month she hoped her dad would come and take her away from Mandy but he was on drug and booze bender following her mom's death. She phoned him at least every second day when Mandy wasn't around. Occasionally he would answer but when he did, it was just mumbled sounds and the word "sorry" over and over again. Other times she would just leave a voicemail. At the time, she was angry with him for not thinking of her and not knowing how much she needed him. Cleo was grieving to and could of used the support of her dad at the time.

One day she came home and found a letter that her dad had wrote to her and it changed her anger to sympathy. The letter explained that he loved her more than anything but he felt responsible for her mom's death. He felt so guilty and couldn't face Cleo yet, so he was using drugs and booze to cope. Towards the end, Gunner told her he was in rehab and he was coming for her soon.

Cleo was ecstatic and just had to wait for dad to rescue her. However when he did show up, Mandy was again the problem. They argued for ages about her and the things Mandy said about her dad, pissed Cleo off and she had to intervene. She protested that she was 15 years old and could look after herself by now. She also told her Aunty that she knew all about her dad's work, his past and lightly defended him for being absent.

It was like since her mom died, Mandy wanted to wrap Cleo in bubble wrap and never let her out of sight. After Cleo pleaded for ages to go with Gunner, Mandy finally agreed but set rules for Gunner. Cleo had expected that though!

The next day, they arrived back in New Orleans and Cleo settled into her now permanent home. She had visited her dad at least once a month when her mom and her used to visit, so she had a room full of clothes and furniture to use.

That night the two of them stayed awake and talked properly on what was happening with each other, without Mandy eavesdropping on them. However it wasn't much of a catch up, but rather the two of them getting their feelings off their chests. Gunner had apologised profusely for not being there for her, abandoning her and explained where his guilt came from over Rebecca's death. Cleo forgave him but let her true feelings out as well.

She was pissed he wasn't there for her. Her mom was her best friend as well. It had mainly been her and her mom everyday for 15 years and now it was the exact opposite. Cleo was the one starting all over at a new school and having to make new friends. Whenever Cleo was unsure or scared she always went to her mom for help but she wasn't here anymore to help. She had tried to go to Mandy for help but she was the exact opposite of her mom and her advice didn't help her. Cleo also hated going to grieve to Mandy because she also blamed Rebecca's death on Gunner and Cleo felt stuck between a rock and hard place. She wanted her dad to grieve with but was pissed at him too as he hadn't fought for her. The two of them hugged and cried for hours but it was needed and their relationship was now stronger than ever.

Life was finally looking up.

It was now a year later and things were still good.

As Cleo reached the bottom of the stairs, she headed for the kitchen to make breakfast before getting ready for work. She went to the cupboard to get bread but stopped when she seen a note on the kitchen counter and went to read it.

The note said

 **"** **Morning princess. I'm soo sorry I didn't make it last night but I want to here all about it when you get home from work. Don't work to hard and I'll see you when you come home. Love you xx"**

Cleo couldn't help but smile at the note. He was home safe and that's all that mattered. She could finally stop worrying until it was time for him to leave again, which would probably be sooner than she liked.

The note also made her feelings of disappointment resurface again from last night.

Gunner had promised her at least twice before that he would come to a soccer game and a dance show that Cleo was in. Every time he promised he would be there, he either got called away on an emergency job or would be delayed getting back. Cleo knew he loved his job and understood that without a job, Gunner couldn't pay the bills or buy Cleo the things that she needed.

However each time he didn't show up, she was disappointed. Every time she would look at the seat in the audience with his name on it and find it empty, it stung her. Other girls had either one or both their parents cheering them on them and Cleo rarely had her dad there at all. If Tool was free or Sam and Emily, they would sometimes come to watch her but it wasn't the same as having her dad there.

Cleo knew that he was genuinely sorry every time he didn't make it but she wished he would stop promising her he would be there so she wouldn't get her hopes up.

Maybe next time he would make it or not tell her and surprise her.

She was sure some of her teammates looked at her and thought, "Why do you keep forgiving him?"

The answer was simple. Gunner was her dad and she loved him to the moon and back. No matter what he did or didn't do for her.

With a sigh, Cleo grabbed a pen and wrote another note at the bottom of Gunner's for when he woke up.

"Lets get this show on the road." Cleo said aloud to herself as she started making breakfast for herself.

She had just under an hour to get ready for work before Heather picked her up. Heather was a girl she worked with and lived close to Cleo and worked the same shift. After they became friends, Cleo told her where she lived and the two of them took it in turns to pick the other one up and drop them off after work. Today was Heather's turn to pick Cleo up.

When she turned 16 Cleo had received her Intermediate drivers license and in 7 months when she turned 17, she would have a full permit. Gunner had also let her drive his chopper occasionally although because she was only 5ft 5in she had a hard time seeing over the bars. Cleo would have preferred a Ducati, like Lee Christmas had but Gunner said she had to get a car rather than a bike because they were safer. Cleo almost laughed when he said that, as he spent more time driving his bike than his truck, but then again, he wasn't exactly the safest person in the world.

As soon as she got her intermediate licence, Cleo was hoping he would buy her a new car but he said that as he had his bike, she could use his truck. At first she thought he was joking, but his look was all-serious. Cleo appreciated the fact that she had a vehicle and that not every teenager had a car but driving around in a beat up old truck wasn't exactly her idea of a nice car. Hopefully she could wait till her birthday in April and he would surprise her with one. A girl could dream couldn't she?

After quickly making breakfast, Cleo went back up to shower and get changed. Before she went to bathroom, she paused outside Gunner's room. The noise sounding like an air horn going off constantly, confirmed that he was home and in a deep sleep by the volume of his snoring.

Confirming he was definitely home, Cleo quickly showered, brushed her teeth, and then changed into black jeans and her store's purple polo shirt with the logo of the store on it. She didn't care too much for make up so she quickly put a dab of foundation on and a bit of mascara.

Tying her hair back in a ponytail, Cleo glanced at her clock and seen she was exactly on time for Heather coming to get her as she seen her car pull up in the driveway.

Cleo grabbed her house keys, a different hoodie and went down stairs to meet heather for work. Hopefully the next 6 and half hours would pass quickly and she could finally hug her dad.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gunner woke up slowly with grunt. The mid day sun was streaming through his curtains like a silent alarm clock.

He slowly propped himself on his arm and checked the clock for the time. The red light flashing 12:30pm. He'd been asleep for almost 13 hours but he needed it and felt refreshed for the rest of the day ahead. As he looked at the clock, his eyes went straight to the picture on his nightstand of Rebecca.

"Morning beautiful." He said to the picture slowly tracing a finger over her face.

Every time Gunner came back from a job, he would lie in bed the morning after he came home and talk to the picture of Rebecca for ages about the job, what went down, how Cleo was getting on and everything else that was happening. His therapist had suggested it a year ago while going through therapy to talk to someone to help him deal with his issues. He would have talked to Cleo but she was so young, he didn't want to scare her and all the expendables had the same shit going on with each other and probably didn't want to re-live the nightmare. It was his idea to talk to the picture of Rebecca. He had told her all his problems 20 years ago and after every job she was always the first person he called and she was a great listener. The only difference was this time it was one-way conversation. Gunner loved it and he felt he was still keeping her in the loop of what was happening with him and Cleo like she was still there and made him feel better.

Occasionally a lump wound form in his throat as his emotions got the better of him. His heart still longing to hear her voice, kiss her, told her tight in his arms and never let her go again.

After almost an hour of talking to Rebecca, Gunner decided to get up and see what needed doing before Cleo came home. Throwing on a vest and shorts over his boxers, he headed downstairs to occupy himself.

However when Gunner went downstairs he was shocked by what he found.

The living room was clean, hallway dusted and carpet vacuumed.

Gunner then checked the laundry room to see if anything was needing done in there but again everything was sorted.

Gunner then wondered into the kitchen to make breakfast for himself and found the note he had left Cleo the night before. Only this morning, there was extra wording at the bottom of his note, in Cleo's handwriting.

" **Howdy Dad. So glad your home. Competition went well. I've got a video to show you and will make you proud."**

Cleo knew what was expected of her while Gunner was away and when he was at home in regards to looking after the house and making sure it wasn't a mess. However this time she had outdone herself and Gunner couldn't help the guilt creep up on him again.

"She works so hard at everything just to make you proud. Your such a fucking idiot but that you can't even show up to see it!" He cursed himself leaning against the breakfast bar.

Gunner had to stop promising Cleo these promises or he would slowly start to break their relationship and possibly lose her again.

He couldn't let that happen!

 **Didn't really touch too much on Gunner's feelings but if you read my first story it'll explain more.**

 **My next story will be multi chapter and picking off from here. If you want me to do more please, favourite, follow and write a review.**


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